July 23, 2012
Australia

Sparky airlifted after wind tower incident

By Tiana Richardson | www.spec.com.au 23 July 2012

A 25-year-old Portland electrician was injured when a three kilogram object fell on his head from 15 metres while he was working inside a wind turbine at Macarthur on Friday.
Jonno Foley, who was working with R.and M. Menzel Electrical Contractors at the AGL Macarthur Wind Farm site, was listed as in a stable condition yesterday in The Alfred Hospital with injuries believed to include two broken ribs, three fractured vertebrae, a punctured lung and some bleeding on the brain.
Mr Foley was working on a platform inside the turbine at a height of about 40 to 50 metres, when a large piece of plastic tubing hit him, according to Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen.
Mr Foley was wearing a hard hat at the time and lost consciousness for between five and 10 minutes, Mr Mullen said.
Mr Mullen said paramedics were called to the AGL Macarthur Wind Farm site at 8.37am and administered first aid to Mr Foley, including placing him in a spinal brace and on a spinal board.
“CFA and SES were also on hand to help organise the rescue,” Mr Mullen said.
Mr Foley was removed from the turbine at about 11.30am and was stabilised before being airlifted by the HEMS4 helicopter to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.
A spokeswoman for WorkSafe said Mr Foley was working as a sub-contractor on the site assisting with the installation of the turbines when the incident occurred. She said two WorkSafe investigators were sent to the site straight away and were preparing a report.
Read more in Monday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/07/23/sparky-airlifted-after-wind-tower-incident/